Management consultant Dr Leahcim Semaj is urging persons who might lose their jobs in the next few months not to immediately cash their redundancy payments.

"For many persons, the redundancy cheque could be the most money they see at any one time and they see this as a windfall, but my advice to them is, put down the cheque even for one week, a month, two months, and think about it," Semaj said.

According to Semaj, many persons spend their redundancy payments without thinking about the options.

"I remember a situation (where) a woman got $400,000 and her thing was to just pay off the mortgage because she didn't want to owe anybody, and I said 'how about you take $200,000 and you put on two rooms at the side of the house and rent it out?' That now pays the mortgage but she never thought about that."

Semaj is also urging persons made redundant not to see this as the end of their life.

"The thing to go forward is (to recognise) that nobody owes you a job, nobody has taken away your job, nobody had a contract that said the job was going to last forever. Instead, be thankful that you had a job.

"It is for you to create a job for yourself by looking at your talents and seeing what work you can get," added Semaj.

Opportunity for change

He noted that the average person is now changing jobs five or six times in his or her life, so the redundancy provides an opportunity for change.

"You have to decide if you are willing to learn something new and, if you are, that can generate some new employment," said Semaj.

He accepted that the sudden loss of a job can take a toll mentally, but urged persons who are sent home to see this as an opportunity for a new start.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com